Nonverbal Communication of Emotion

Nonverbal Communication of Emotion How can we tell what someone is feeling without a direct verbal expression (i.e., “I’m mad”)?

Nonverbal Emotions What are some ways that we convey our emotions without actually having to explicitly state them? • Facial Expressions • Body Language • Voice Quality • Personal Space • Explicit Acts • Emblems/Gestures

Facial Expressions • Most obvious emotional indicators • Many facial expressions are innate (not learned) – evolutionary and adaptive- our ancestors used them to defend themselves, win mates, and compete for status (Ekman, 1992; Tooby & Cosmides, 1990)

Facial Expressions • Facial Expressions and Genuine Smiles • BBC Online- Spot the Fake Smile

Body Language • Second most useful form of nonverbal communication • We can tell how someone is feeling by the way they hold themselves – Relaxed state- stretching back in a chair – Tense state- stiff and upright

• Why is this helpful?? – College interviews, walking off of the bus for a sporting event, drama club production* •

*Beier videotaped subjects acting out emotions- most could only “act” 2 out of 6 emotions (Anger, fear, seductiveness, indifference, happiness, sadness)

Body Language Exercise

Voice Quality Consider the following scenario:

Jay walks into the kitchen and his mother is unloading the dishwasher. Rather than helping, he sits down and starts snacking on Cheetos and checking facebook. Jay’s Mom: I hope you are enjoying those Cheetos, Jay. Jay’s Mom’s words do not express how she is feeling. How might her tone?

Voice Quality • We know from the tone of one’s voice, as well as the expression behind it, how a person feels. • Many times, we do not need hear or express directly with words how or what we or someone else is feeling. • Other examples??

Role play!!! • Round 1: How do we stand next to people who are our friends? Those who are not? • Round 2: How does our personal space change when we are scared? Angry?

Personal Space • Defined as the distance people maintain between themselves • Varies between nature of activity and emotion felt – closer = anger or affection – farther= fear or dislike

• Normal conversing distance between people varies from culture to culture • Invasion of personal space = DISCOMFORT!

Explicit Acts • Outward expression of emotion – Examples: slamming a door, punching a wall, kicking a chair, slapping high five, etc. – Are sometimes tricky • • • •

Sometimes we demonstrate the “wrong” behavior Laughing and crying often look similar Crying can signify happiness or sadness Lying can fool many of us!! – In a study of several hundred “lie catchers” (government officials, Secret Service members, judges, psychiatrists, lie detector experts), only Secret Service performed at a rate that was “better than chance” – “Lie to Me”

– Masking, Neutralizing, Intensification, Deintensification

Emblem • Fancy name for a type of “gesture” used as replacement for words – Examples: Wink, Nod, Hand-wave, “O.K.” hand gesture

• Culture-specific – An emblem that is common in one place may be highly offensive in another

• Be careful of replacing gestures with words – Examples?

Emblems/Gestures Exercise

Display Rules • Circumstances under which it is appropriate for people to show emotion – differ greatly from culture to culture

• Experiment: Japanese and American college students were shown videos – Round One: Students were alone in the room and displayed similar emotions (disgust) – Round Two: Students were in a room with an experimenter. When with the experimenter, Japanese faces were more neutral or pleasant, while Americans continued to display disgust

• It is a “display rule” among the Japanese to avoid displaying strong negative emotion in the presence of a respected elder. (Ekman, Friesen, and Ellsworth, 1972)

Empathy vs. Sympathy • Sympathy- To recognize someone else’s emotions and appreciate them. • Empathy- To recognize someone else’s emotion, as well as to identify with the emotion another is experiencing, as if to also take on that emotion. • Examples??

Summary • What are the most effective nonverbal cues? • Are all emotional expressions universal? • Can you hypothesize what is going on in the following picture:

Gender and Emotion • Ladies ~ Do you ever feel like a guy doesn’t “understand” how you feel and you don’t “get” how they can “shut off” their emotions? • Gentlemen ~ Have you ever experienced an instance when a girl is way too emotional for you? • Are girls really more emotional than guys? (the question that plagues every relationship)

Gender and Emotion • Common observation: Men display different emotions than woman – Science or Stereotype?

• Eisenberg and Lennon, 1983 – When exposed to people in distress, women expressed more feelings of concern. However, physiological responses were the same. – Conclusion: Men inhibited their emotion.

Gender and Emotion • O’Leary and Smith, 1988 – Boys are trained to suppress “unmanly” emotions, such as sympathy, sadness, empathy, and distress, at a young age – Perhaps this is why females sometimes don’t get the response they are looking for when seeking for comfort in their partners

Gender and Emotion • Females have stronger emotional reactions when they self-generate a thought – Ex: Think of your dog running away. – The emotional centers of the brain are more activated in females than males in these hypothetical situations – Ladies: Stop thinking too much! 

Gender and Emotion • Reactions to a hypothetical situation of being double-crossed – Women – betrayed and hurt (“how could you do this to me??”) – Men- anger (“watch your back”) – Men often outwardly express emotions • 4x as likely to be violent

– Women often look inward • More likely to be depressed

Gender and Emotion • Holding anger in is extremely unhealthy – People who feel more hostile were three times more likely to die during study than those who were not (Julius, et. Al. 1986)

• Venting and experiencing bouts of anger appropriately is essential to our survival! • Healthy ways to express anger??

Gender and Emotion • Males and females differ in the way they interpret nonverbal cues of emotion – Women can decode facial expressions, body cues, and tones of voices more efficiently – Evolutionary and/or a result of child rearing (practice) – People are more sensitive to the emotions of their “leaders” • Historically, men have been more “powerful”

– Women hold emotionally laborious occupations

Culture and Emotion • Many cultures share similar emotional reactions – Death = sadness; Attack = fear

• Many emotions depend the culture – Cultures that emphasize the “individual”- you are more likely to feel “proud” – Cultures that emphasize the “collective”- you may not feel as “proud” (say, of a job promotion)

Culture and Emotion • The English language has endless words for self-focused emotions (multiple words for one emotion!) – Angry, mad, infuriated – Sad, upset, hurt

• The Japanese language has more words for “other-focused” emotions – i.e. words for empathy and sympathy

Culture and Emotion • Matsumoto, et al 1988 – American college students experienced emotions that lasted longer than Japanese students – Collectivist cultures put an emphasis on emotions that help the “flow” of society as a whole – Stop dwelling because you’re not doing anyone any good!

Culture and Emotion • Ekman and facial expressions – Happiness, anger, surprise, sadness, anger, fear, disgust – Are universal across cultures

Culture and Emotion • Once again, display rules come into effect when expressing emotions – Masking, Neutralizing, Deintensification, Intensification

• Members of different cultures follow different rules for when it is appropriate to express emotion – When is it okay to show that you are mad? Disgusted? Angry?  Etre et Avoir clip (1:11)

Review • Format: – 15 Multiple Choice – 4 Matching – 1 Short Answer – 1 Essay

• Use Chapter 9 terms sheet for review – Questions/Comments??

• Monday- JEOPARDY